


Pictures In The Snow

by broriartys



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Childhood Photos, Childhood Trauma, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 03:46:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15833118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broriartys/pseuds/broriartys
Summary: Edward visits Gertrud for the first time and gets a chance to peak at photos from Oswald's childhood, which brings up some unpleasant memories.





	Pictures In The Snow

“For the love of God, could you slow down a bit?”

 Oswald softly squeezed his hand around Ed’s, who was walking or rather waltzing by his side. Oswald’s bad leg made it hard for him to keep up with the pace Ed set up, as he nervously made his way down the snow covered street and dragged Oswald along. 

 “It’s going to be just fine. She’s going to love you.” He offered him a genuine smile, looking up to catch Ed’s gaze. 

“How can you be so sure?” Ed suddenly stopped, nearly causing Oswald to trip over him. 

Oswald pressed his hand against Ed’s chest as his fingers wrapped around the tip of the tie he was wearing. He pulled Ed down to his eye level. 

“Edward, please. You’re good enough for me, and I’m certain you’ll be good enough for my mother.” He pressed a soft peck to Ed’s lips before he let go of his tie, that was now showing the signs of being gripped with its crumpled look.

They arrived at Gertrud’s with a slight delay, as Oswald had to give Ed much more pep talks than he expected. Ed had no idea how to expect the place where Oswald used to live to look like, let alone imagine his mother, but he was pleasantly surprised. Oswald quite gave off the impression of living in a house with bars on the windows and several traps set around the place, and he expected his mother to be much alike. 

Gertrud’s place was nothing like Ed imagined. Her small, yet airy flat was warm and welcoming, just like the woman who lived there. She immediately embraced both Oswald and Edward in a tight hug, and even kissed their cheeks.

“I am so pleased to meet you, Ms. Kapelput,” Ed stammered and reached his hand over to her for a handshake.

“Oh please! You can call me Gertrud, honey.” She shook his hand with a kind smile, before resting her hand on Ed’s shoulder as she led him to the living room. 

After they were both offered a cup of steaming hot tea, Os and Ed found themselves sitting on a small cosy couch with Gertrud seated right opposite them in an armchair. The conversation had somehow shifted from how he and her son met to her telling stories from Oswald’s childhood. 

“Such a sweet little boy he was, my Ozzie-“

Edward couldn’t help but smirk as he interrupted Gertrud before she started with yet another story about her lovely son. “Wouldn’t you happen to have some photos of  _Ozzie_  when he was a child, perhaps?” 

Oswald looked as if he wanted to murder him in cold blood, and as his angry glare met with Ed’s amused smirk, Gertrud jumped off her seat and shifted to scam through a cabinet. She returned with a thick family album.

He soon learned that what he considered to be a family album, was indeed an album full of photos from Oswald’s childhood. From the awkward yet cute baby photos to Os’ first day at kindergarten. However, most pictures featured Oswald in his teenage years. Slightly chubby and wearing a thick knitted sweater, which was undoubtedly handmade by Gertrud herself. Teenage Oswald surely had no idea what to do with his hair as it could simply be described as plain mess. It was somewhat ruffled, and carried no resemblance to the way Oswald used to style his hair now. 

“Ozzie! You were adorable!” Ed teased Oswald with a laugh, but the truth was he had never seen anything cuter than young Oswald. 

“Call me Ozzie one more time and I will have you beheaded,” Oswald snapped back, causing Gertrud to gasp and cover her mouth. 

Ed continued to shuffle through the album, stopping to take look at the photos that caught his eyes. Oswald seemed to grow grumpier and grumpier the longer they went through the photos. 

“I guess we should call it a night,” he muttered as he snatched the album from Ed’s hands, leaving both him and Gertrud utterly confused.  And after that he kissed his mother’s cheek  and marched out of the door. 

Snowflakes filled the sky, and their breaths were visible in the icy air. It must have been snowing the whole time they were at Gertrud's. The pavement was completely covered in snow, causing every step they took to leave an imprint of their shoes on the white ground.

Oswald waddled alongside Ed, with his hands buried in his pockets. He was shivering.

“Take this,” Ed unwrapped a thick scarf from around his neck in order to give it to Os.

All he got as a response was a glare, but seeing how comfortable Oswald seemed to be enough of a 'thank you'.  

Words didn’t need to be said. Just like Ed’s, Oswald’s childhood wasn’t really a nice one. He had never told Oswald about his father. Coming back to that part of his life, where memories felt like daggers, still filled him with dread up to this day. But having gone through those times made him aware about what an impact memories can leave on someone. Especially the bad ones. 

Ed slid his hand into the pocket of Oswald’s coat, his fingers brushing against Os’.

“Whatever had happened back there when you were a child, it made you who you are. And after all, a man is defined by his actions, not his memories.”

He felt Oswald’s hand wrap around his own, softly squeezing onto his palm. The look Oswald gave him right after was one Ed would never forget. His eyes beamed, and the snowflakes landing on his hair added a slight shine to the picture.  Edward couldn’t help but press a tiny kiss to Oswald’s lips.

One day, he would tell him about his father. 

**Author's Note:**

> Attempt at fluff? Hopefully not too OOC. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and feel free to leave a comment or kudos, it will be appreciated! c:


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